We are all saddened by
this
tragedy. As safety professionals, we all know that there are many
contributing
factors in such an incident, some of which we probably still
don’t completely
understand from a distance.

In the coverage,
I’m surprised
that there have been few references to the OSHA Lab Standard and the
Chemical
Hygiene Plan. The OLS/CHP is key to
laboratory
safety, so it should be very relevant to this incident. (The CalOSHA
citation
only cited the training requirements of the
OLS.)

I wonder—are the OSHA Lab Standard requirements
sufficiently
rigorous to minimize the possibility of this type of accident? If not,
perhaps
DivCHAS should suggest improvements to the OLS/CHP, or create a new
model CHP.
Is something out there already?

BTW, in December 2003
the New
York Times ran a series of articles about OSHA’s weak
enforcement of workplace
fatalities. See http://www.arentfox.com/publications/index.cfm?
fa=legalUpdateDisp&content_id=1089
for more information. Only in the U.S. is the maximum fine
for a
workplace fatality is $7,000, while the maximum fine for leaving a cap
off a
hazardous waste container is $27,500. Some states have higher fines
for
littering.

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